Breslin & Young: Children in the spotlight

Children on the margins have recently burst into the spotlight and are openly and harmfully in the middle of our disagreements.

Heated debates about the Department of Health and Human Services' failure to keep track of close to 1,500 children who entered America unaccompanied mingled uncomfortably with the actual separation of children from their families being deployed as a deterrent to entry into our great land. The White House chief of staff suggested that children taken from their families would be "put into foster care or whatever" at precisely the same time a deeply critical and thought-provoking series focused on the impact of child welfare runs in The Denver Post.

Oklahoma now allows child placement agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ families in a state where the gap between kids needing families and actual families available remains significant. Dreamers live in limbo as Congress punts, and research suggests loneliness is now at epidemic levels in the U.S. Recently secured long-term funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is threatened yet again under the guise of curbing excessive federal government spending.

Make no mistake, children have long been undermined, harmed and hidden from sight, as the Tennyson Center for Children can attest after walking with kids and families in trauma for over 114 years. Tennyson works with children and families in almost all the scenarios highlighted above. Our community-based, residential and day treatment programs help children and families experiencing trauma from abuse and neglect stabilize, heal and reintegrate successfully into society.

We push aside tainted politics and draw strength from unlikely allies who reject the blatant and deeply troubling use of marginalized children and families as political pawns. We believe that children and families in crisis should inspire us to action rather than alarm us into inactivity, and we are acting with allies to change the horrific story arc settling over children in the U.S. We are overjoyed when children are cheered for making a shot or scoring a touchdown at Boys & Girls Clubs throughout the state who stand with kids in crisis unblinkingly. We are elated when a child at Tennyson screams for joy when she sees a leader in Colorado's oil and gas industry who helped her feel seen and heard when he spent meaningful time with her as a volunteer, and are humbled when Denver District 1 police officers take personal time to shoot hoops with kiddos. Their high-fives and smiles make kids feel part of the team.

We marvel at loving foster and kinship families of all persuasions who open their doors to abandoned kids in ways that help those children heal and find their way home. These foster parents succeed more than is often portrayed.

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We are left breathless with the lawyers at the Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) who work tirelessly to ensure kids are safe and never quit on kids tangled in our legal system.

We draw inspiration from Colorado state legislators pushing aside the highly charged national and statewide political environment to shepherd new policies and funding for families afflicted by the opioid crisis, to tangibly boost foster family success, and to enhance foster children's graduation prospects.

We unflinchingly align with Colorado's Department of Human Services as they lead on the implementation of our nation's new Family First Prevention Services Act that may dramatically rewire support for children and families in crisis. And we partner with deep admiration with often (and wrongly) maligned county case workers from Denver, Boulder, Douglas, El Paso and Weld counties (among others) who never stop working to help children and families succeed.

We sit at a new table that transcends politics and welcomes all who stand with children and families healing from trauma. The table is open, embraces all who put kids first, and drowns out the noise that darkens our land. We sit with giants whose relentless focus on children's healing is contagious, and we welcome all who share the belief that kids are not political pawns regardless of where their journeys commenced. Giants who understand that aligning with children and families in crisis not only unleashes them anew in our great country, but also unleashes our own deepest good as well.

Ned Breslin is president and CEO and Brandon Young is the chief advancement officer at the Tennyson Center for Children.